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Horatio (better known as Horace) Walpole (September 24, 1717 – March 2, 1797) the 4th Earl of Orford, was a wit, a writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician for the rotten borough of Callington, Cornwall. He held this seat for thirteen years, although he never visited the seat. He was the youngest son of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole and his wife Catherine. In 1749 he famously had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, reviving the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors, remaining there until his death. His best known novel was the gothic romance the Castle of Otranto a tale off mystery and horror published in 1764. But it wasn’t for these towering achievements that he is remembered here. He frequently crossed the River Thames to visit Richmond and was a close friend of George Selwyn (a celebrated wit himself). The name was chosen at the request of the Selwyns by Richmond Council and the librarian Alfred Barkas as the road was laid out over the former Selwyn Court estate around 1912.
